May 25, 2006
Who Polices the Police?
This afternoon a loyal DCist reader sent us along a complaint, and some pictures to boot. Apparently police officers at a First District substation on Capitol Hill have a tendency to ignore the very parking rules District residents are forced, by fear of ticket, to follow. He writes:
A typical day at the First District Substation. Their jobs are so important, they can park their private cars anywhere they darn well please. Think about that for a moment: So, nobody else's job is important? Nobody else has trouble parking? Georgetown Hospital parking is a bitch, but I don't see doctors' cars blocking Reservoir Road. No, the only reason the cops don't have to obey the parking laws is that they're the ones who write the tickets.Well, technically it's the Department of Public Works that send out the hated meter maids and parking enforcers, but the point still stands. Should police officers be allowed to violate city parking regulations? Can residents hand out tickets of their own, a vehicular citizen's arrest if you will? Where can one buy a boot these days?
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This kind of thing outrages me. Cops happily use their badges to skirt the rules that the rest of society has to follow. Police should not be allowed to violate parking regulations and they should not be allowed to park in places "regular" people can't -- the grassy area on the side of the 3D station, for example, or the big grassy areas in front of RFK (my bet is a big number the cars parked there are off-duty cops off enjoying a ballgame). Doubt that much can be done to stop this, though ...
Ben & Jerry's employees get free ice cream. Disc jockeys get free CDs. Cops get to park illegally.
Everyone's job has some sort of perk. Get mad if they're driving at unsafe speeds for no good reason, but parking? Seems needlessly quarrelsome.
Ben & Jerry's employees get free ice cream. Disc jockeys get free CDs. Cops get to park illegally.
Everyone's job has some sort of perk. Get mad if they're driving at unsafe speeds for no good reason, but parking? Seems needlessly quarrelsome.
Cops can give tickets just the same as Parking Services. I was parked for less than 5 minutes just a few feet behind the no-parking sign (asshole in front of me thought SUV's need 5 feet of extra space in front of them). This is after 9:00 at night, so I figure "no parking services people around - shouldn't be a problem."
I come out to find a nice little ticket on my car.
You people have officially run out of worthwhile things to bitch about. No one is harmed by the cops double parking. It's a wide street and the double parking only effects the other cops who work there. In case you hadn't noticed there aren't exactly a lot of convenient surface lots. I guess the city could tear down the existing building a put up some ugly modern thing with parking. Oh wait, residents would bitch about that too. Let's cut the cops some slack, huh?
If the police are parking at meters without paying, then that might be parallel to the Ben & Jerry's argument Peter is making. But if there's a reason for a space to have no parking, whether it's safety or traffic flow, that reason applies just as well whether the car occupying the space belongs to a police officer or not. If having the police park in a spot doesn't cause a problem, then having someone else park there won't either, and the space should be made into a legal space. If having the police park there does cause a problem, then people shouldn't be parking there, police or not.
I agree with KCinDC. Many no parking signs are near fire hydrants or access for disable persons to use the sidewalk where there is a gap/lowering/semi ramp. I have seen countless cops parking there, which I don't think is right.
But if you really want to tick me off, what about metrobuses that vagrantly run red lights, or "block the box" during rush hour. I see it all the time at Connecticut & K and 14th & K. Just a big old metrobus blocking oncoming traffic because it just had to run that red light with no where to go.
I see this alot too. Most of these are SUV's with Maryland tags...
It's infurating.
This is a huge problem around the third district station as well (and they have a rather large parking garage and a grassy strip of land that they happily park on when there is IMF/World Bank stuff going on, so why they can't do it the rest of the time is beyond me). Not only do they park illegally, but they park in RPP spaces all day long, taking away spaces from residents who have paid to be able to park along the streets, and they never get tickets.
I am glad someone else took notice of the police parking at the 1st District station, some days, it is really out of control with cops parked on the grass, on the sidewalks, and all over the no parking areas of the streets. Most have some sort of homemade "police parking" sign on the dash, or use the MD FOP license plates.
It is also bad along Virginia Ave SW (along the elevated railroad tracks) where you have personal cars parked in no parking areas all day with various unofficial "police" or "Federal Agent" parking signs on the dash.
While parking just about anywhere in DC is tough, its the attitude displayed by these cops that bothers me. They think they are above the law and can simply exempt themselves from dealing with the problems that other residents and commuters have to deal with. So much for "community policing."
For years I commuted out of the city on 23rd street. Right in front of the police station, by Washington Circle, police cruisers would be parked where clearly no parking is allowed during rush hour? Traffic would back up for blocks because of it.
No Parking laws apply to everyone.
I a cop parks illegally, that's a legal spot that's left available for the rest of us.
KCinDC has it exactly right. If the parking rules are in place for public safety and not private privilege, how is it any less unsafe for a police car to block my view, or block a lane, than a lowly regular citizen's car?
Driving at unsafe speeds for no reason? Yep, the cops do that, too. (Do you think cops pay the tickets that we all get sent if we dare to drive at freeway speeds on the FREEWAY that is the Third Street Tunnel?)
gr, that is a good way to look at it!
Over by the court house in Silver Spring cops regularly park illegally. I assume it is pretty similar everywhere.
We all know that many cops also turn on their sirens just to go through yellow and red lights. They also speed on the interstate when they really aren't going much anywhere. I decided a long time ago not to get too worked up about it.
I am a police officer in DC and let's get a few things straight. If we parked our personal vehicles on the residential streets, in front of your homes and businesses, for the 8-12 hours we may work that day, you would complain about that as well. There would be posts about cops taking up all the spaces and you having to walk 3 blocks to your home, blah blah blah. I have gotten plenty of tickets on my personal vehicle by DPW as well as MPD alike. I pay those just like you all.
Secondly, if we are driving a police car above speed and are caught by the photo radar or red light cameras, the driver of the patrol car is issued the ticket, whether it is $50 or $200 dollars. Unless the car is moving lights and sirens, the driver is responsible for the ticket and MPD has no exception to that rule. Trust me on that, I am $100 poorer because of it.
I know you will probably complain about my response. After all, this is DC and the citizens are always right, regardless of the facts.
Guess we'll have to take your word for it on the speed cameras, but it seems to me the limits would be more realistic if that were truly the case.
Now then: Please explain to me why my parking too close to an intersection is a safety hazard whereas your parking too close to an intersection is not.
I know you will probably complain about my response. After all, this is DC and the citizens are always right, regardless of the facts.
Well, I was confused by the first part of your response, because it seems to me that all we want is y'all to park legally.
But I wasn't going to complain because hey, maybe the fact that the first paragraph made no sense to me was because it's late and I'm not reading it correctly.
Then I got to the part quoted above. Dude, with an attitude like that, you shouldn't be a cop. Sometimes we're right, sometimes you're right, and so it goes. But if you're that down on the citizens that you're here to "protect and serve," you're not in the right job.
Of course, DC cops could just take the Metro into work like tens of thousands of people from MD and VA do every day...or they could park in a pay lot (there is one right down the street from the 1st District station). But I guess following the rules is for the "little people" not the cops.
By the way, if you think this problem is bad in DC, go to NYC. When I lived there it was an epidemic. Cops, firemen, families and friends of cops, etc etc, it seems every third car parked on a NYC street has a homemade "NYPD Parking" sign on the dash.
But whether it is NY or DC, its the same basic problem. Some cops have ZERO respect for the citizens or the city that they work for. So maybe instead of just writing tickets, the MPD brass should take a good hard look at the attitudes of some of the "public servants" on their force.
No doubt we would, but as mentioned in the article, that logic would apply to anyone. Why not let doctors park illegally as well?
If there aren't enough parking spaces for the police, it seems to me the answer is to make more parking spaces, not to have the police park in places where they endanger or inconvenience other people. I don't think that saying that is somehow an attack on police officers.
Early some morning, check out the sidewalk in front of the DC police marine unit on the SW water front. Lots of Maryland FOP SUVs on the sidewalk. Many parking spaces available, but real men need to park on the sidewalk.
A police cruiser parks in front of my building every singe night illegally (Convention center area). He started doing this about 5 months ago and it's rare to not see his car illegally parked. I recieved a ticket one night for using a similar spot.
Do I care? No.
1) His parking leaves one more legal spot out there for me
2) Police presence in a neighborhood can deter car break-ins
copindc:
"If we parked our personal vehicles on the residential streets, in front of your homes and businesses, for the 8-12 hours we may work that day, you would complain about that as well."
Nice attitude.
Does it occur to you that everyone else in the District who works and owns a car has to deal with parking? Why would anyone complain if you are parked legally for 8-12 hours? Oh but wait--you might not reside in the area where you work, so you can't park in one spot for 8-12 hours. So guess what--you get to move your car every 2 hours from meter to meter, pay to put it in a lot, or TAKE THE F-ING BUS.
I am indeed a DC citizen, so please inform me of any more relevant facts. Based on your statement I am inclined to charge you with first degree stupidity.
DCPD park their cars anywhere they want to. A damn shame...check out this car
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terecico/126063471/
dindc: the post is about *personal* vehicles, not cruisers.
that said, terecico: outrageous.
I don't mind when cops do it: I give them the benefit of the doubt, believing that they have a good reason for it. Same with firemen or other people that might someday save my life. But it pisses me off when I see council members do it. Some idiot with a VW bug parked right in the metro bus stop on 16th street the other day. The bus couldn't pull in and the driver behind almost rammed the bus when it came to a sudden stop. Was this jackass rushing in to vote on a bill that will somehow make my life better? I doubt it. Council members should have the same parking rules that they enact apply to them.
I live with and am friends with a DC cop and he complains quite a bit about how the meter maids in the city ticket cops all over the city. In fact, he tells stories about how the cops aren't too fond of the meter maids. For example, the meter maids unscrupulously ticket police cruisers (not even their private cars) in front of the courthouses downtown.
The person who took the time to do this is clearly citing the exception, not the norm.
I live with and am friends with a DC cop and he complains quite a bit about how the meter maids in the city ticket cops all over the city. In fact, he tells stories about how the cops aren't too fond of the meter maids. For example, the meter maids unscrupulously ticket police cruisers (not even their private cars) in front of the courthouses downtown.
The person who took the time to do this is clearly citing the exception, not the norm.
steve, that idiot was jim graham from dist 1. he must've been buying some new bow ties or something...
the meter maids ticket EVERYONE in this city! get over it!
if an emergency vehicle is responding to a call they can ignore traffic signs, but other than that--they must obey the law.
and why in the world is it unscrupulous to ticket cruisers in front of the courthouse? unscrupulous means unprincipled. i think that's a very principled action. it shows that meter maids are equal opportunity ticket writers.
i'm sorry, but these posts are pissing me off like nothing else.
It's not just the police - look around the District's offices at 941 North Capitol and K Sts. The metered spaces on the street are all occupied by DC Govt cars (with no money in the meters of course), the handicapped visitor (2 hour parking on street spots) are occupied all day by out-of-district commuters who work there and have disabled tags but are too cheap to pay for a lot and the DDOT workers park in the grass along the street.
I agree with KC -- the meter violations don't bother me so much. There's a fairness problem, yes, but it isn't a blatant safety problem.
In fact, this is my pet peeve with the METERmaids. Want to avoid a ticket? Just park your car in the middle of the damn street. The breathtakingly unsafe, inconsiderate and deliberate violation of the law ("double parking," some euphemistically call it) is ignored and allowed while they ticket people who try to obey the law and use the meters but arrive back 10 seconds late. (Sometimes they even jump the gun and assume you won't make it back.)
And don't get me started on how somehow it is allowed to ticket people for parking at broken meters.
Copindc: boo hoo! How bout enforcing all the double parking on Sundays by out-of-state Church people who all the politicians are pandering to because they need the black church vote to win.
Use Metro, stop whining. You want sympathy, call your mother.
Ray - Get over it. Neither Federal Government nor DC Government cars on official business are required to put money in meters. They are however obliged to park legally, including restrictions to, but not limited to: rush hour restrictions, fire hydrants, blocking entrances, handicapped parking, speeding etc. As to follow through on those tickets, I can at least tell you that in the federal agencies I have been at, you will pay the ticket, and if it doubles, you will not drive a GOV.
Do some DC cops park as they please? Sure. But they're not as bad as the church parkers. I can tell you from where I sit that parking outside the Courthouse is a crapshoot, and since the Newseum took the last surface parking lot, things have gotten much worse. You want things to get better, lobby your councilmember for the city to build underground garages that they can then fleece you with.
"Use Metro, stop whining. You want sympathy, call your mother."
Stop whining, use the Metro? God, the Metro is the source for the most petty whining in this city ("My god, I had to ask someone to move over a foot!" "Kids on vacation talk loudly, oh the humanity!"). I think whining about people in positions of authority breaking the law, as minor as that law may be, is less petty than whining about tourists standing in your way for a few seconds.
More than anything, this is a safety issue. I used to live near the MPD 1st District station and I can attest to the fact that the parking situation has gotten out of control. I don't know how many times I saw police officers park their personal cars across sidewalks, blocking intersections, and on a few occassions on the grass. The double parking wouldn't be a problem if the street was wide enough to get around safely. The First District station is across the street from a park where a lot of kids play. There is always the fear that a child might be run over when you are getting around the MPD personal car obstable course. The most aggravating thing is that these officers could drive one block in any direction they could find a legal and safe parking spot.
The subjest should not be about parking. The subjest should be "Are law enforcement officers above the law?" So the problem starts out with a little parking infringement....but what else is the officer doing? If an officer is willing to place himself above the law in a simple parking situation because he able to get a ticket "taken care of", what else is he up to and what would he tolerate from his fellow officers. How badly can he abuse your rights before someone calls him on the situation? Or can he out and out kill you and it is justified because he is a law enforcement officer and above the law? Small stuff seems small until you have had to deal with cops and suddenly realize the police are fallible and that breaking a "little law" is a serious indicator of a systemic problem.